The history of travel in the Crystal Valley will be the focus of an Aug. 24th program that kicks off a series of presentations on the planned Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail.
Dale Will, director of special projects and acquisitions with Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, along with area history buff Bill Kight of the Glenwood Springs Historical Society and Native American Kenny Frost of the Southern Ute Tribe, will present a retrospective on early travel routes in the Crystal Valley on the 24th at 7 p.m. at the Carbondale Firehouse.
Will, a Carbondale resident who confesses a particular fascination with the history of the Crystal Valley, has been researching the history of travel in the valley as part of the planning for the Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail. Historic maps and photographs abound to help tell the story. Kight, formerly with the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service, has received multiple awards for his dedication to preservation of cultural resources and passion for sense of place on public lands, including his work on the Forest Service Passport in Time’s Ute Trail Project. Frost is a Native American consultant who works with Indian tribes and federal and state agencies, and provides training in the identification of sacred places and sites. Together, Frost and Kight have spent many hours exploring the Flat Tops north of Glenwood Springs to identify the Ute Trail there.
The Aug. 24th program, co-sponsored by Pitkin County Open Space and Trails and the Mount Sopris Historical Society, is free to attend. Everyone is welcome.
In addition to Will’s work, planning for the proposed Carbondale to Crested Butte Trail has involved ecological and engineering consultants, as well as a cultural resource specialist. They are compiling information for a pair of open houses in September that will give the public its first look at the data associated with potential alignments for a trail stretching up the Crystal Valley from the terminus of the existing Crystal Trail south of Carbondale.
Open houses are scheduled Sept. 6th at the Redstone Inn and Sept. 7th at the Carbondale Firehouse, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The evening programs will feature presentations by the consultants and displays to illustrate trail options in the valley. The programs will kick off an initial public comment period that will extend through Oct. 2.
Go to www.pitkinOSTprojects.com for more on the planning process as it moves forward.
Contact: Dale Will, OST director of special projects and acquisitions
dale.will@pitkincounty.com or 970-920-5203